Newton County District Attorney's Office

08/12/2026

From DA Randy McGinley:

This afternoon, Governor Kemp will swear me in as the next Superior Court Judge of the Alcovy Judicial Circuit. It has been the honor of my life time to serve Walton and Newton Counties as a prosecutor for the last almost 15 years. Just 2 weeks after law school graduation, then DA Layla Zon took a chance on me, hiring me as an Assistant District Attorney. Then in 2020, the citizens of Newton and Walton County had the confidence in me to vote me in as the elected District Attorney. It has been an incredible journey and I am so grateful for all the love and support over the years.

The staff of both offices have and continue to serve our communities with excellence. It is not an exaggeration to say that any success I have had is because of the amazing people I have had the honor to work with. Thank you for all you have done and I look forward to seeing the amazing things you do in the future.

What does that mean moving forward? The DA’s Office will remain in the incredibly capable and talent hands of the awesome Assistant District Attorneys, Investigators, Victim Advocates and Office Staff. Chief ADA Cliff Howard becomes Acting DA upon my swearing in as judge. From there, Governor Kemp will appoint the next District Attorney; that process is already underway. That appointed DA will then serve out the remainder of my term, until the 2028 election.

07/27/2026

District Attorney’s Office Teaches at Statewide Conference:

Every year, prosecutors and investigators from across the State of Georgia head to Jekyll Island for the annual Summer Conference put on by the Prosecuting Attorneys' Council of Georgia. This Conference accomplishes multiple things. Its purpose is to bring “together professionals from across the state to learn, collaborate, and strengthen the pursuit of justice.” It also allows prosecutors and investigators to obtain their required continuing education hours each year.

This year, our attorneys and investigators attended courses that taught on a wide variety of topics such as artificial intelligence, the power of storytelling, human trafficking, jury selection, criminal appellate issues, ethics, and professionalism.

As part of the Conference’s “trial track,” District Attorney Randy McGinley and Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Bailey Wilkinson taught a two-hour class on “Getting the Most Out of Your Digital Evidence.” This course focused on the complexity of digital evidence and how to best present the evidence in court.

Over the last ten-fifteen years, the volume and complexity of digital evidence have increased substantially. This includes cell phone evidence, surveillance video, social media evidence, and license plate reader evidence. Fifteen years ago, case files in a prosecutor’s office could be a written incident report, some printed out photographs, and a few additional documents. Now, case files contain hundreds of gigabytes of data, and sometimes multiple terabytes.

Sifting through this massive amount of data presents numerous challenges, including how to best present such evidence to a jury. Typically, a jury is composed of individuals with a wide range of experience and comfort with newer technology. This means jurors learn about such technology in different ways. The presentation discussed these challenges and used real examples and experiences to demonstrate ways to present this evidence in a compelling way.
The District Attorney’s Office is committed to remaining at the cutting edge of technology and was honored to be asked to present on such an important topic.

Randy McGinley
District Attorney
Alcovy Judicial Circuit

07/07/2026

Newton County man sentenced for numerous drug offenses:

Yesterday, July 6, just before the start of jury selection, Walter Brian Johnson (52 years of age) pleaded guilty to numerous drug offenses related to multiple incidents. Because of the nature of the crimes, prior to trial, the State sought to join two separate cases for trial. This was granted by the court. In total, Johnson pleaded guilty to the following:

- 3 counts of Trafficking Methamphetamine
- 1 count of Possession of Co***ne with Intent to Distribute
- 1 count of Possession of Ma*****na with Intent to Distribute
- 1 count of Possession of Ma*****na More than an Ounce
- 1 count of Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance

These charges stem from incidents that began on June 22, 2024. On that day, Newton County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a residence on Mote Road in reference to a person with a bullet wound. When they arrived, they met with Johnson’s mother who told deputies she heard a knock at her door. She found that Johnson was the person at the door, and he told her that he had been shot. Johnson then told deputies that he was exercising down the street when two people dressed in all black approached him and shot him for no reason. However, there were no signs of blood and no shell casing found around the area Johnson said he was shot.

Law enforcement continued to investigate and found that Johnson lived nearby in a residence on Highway 162. Law enforcement observed blood, shell casings, and a firearm on the ground near that residence. Inside, they found over a kilogram of methamphetamine, other narcotics, materials used for distributing narcotics, and documentation showing that this was Johnson’s residence.

Then on September 27, 2024, a traffic stop was conducted on a vehicle driven by Johnson at a gas station in Newton County. He was found to be in possession of multiple ounces of methamphetamine and other narcotics. Newton County deputies obtained a search warrant for his residence on Highway 162. During this search, law enforcement located more than an ounce of methamphetamine, a large amount of co***ne, and more than an ounce of ma*****na.

In total, Johnson was sentenced to 30 years with the first 25 years to be served in prison along with over $1.5 million in fines and surcharges and numerous special conditions, including a 4th amendment waiver.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney PJ Hemmann, Jr., Investigator Colin Cunningham, Trial Assistant Danielle Miller, and Legal Assistant Anna Sugg. The investigation and arrest were handled by the Newton County, GA Sheriff's Office.

"This case demonstrates the dangers of selling narcotics. Johnson, who has a previous conviction for multiple counts of sale of methamphetamine, was distributing dangerous drugs in our community. That not only led to a lengthy prison sentence, but it also put him in danger of losing his life. Thankfully no one else was harmed by the gun violence that Johnson's drug peddling brought to our community."

- DA Randy McGinley

07/02/2026

Happy 250th to America!

The DA's Office is closed Friday, July 3 and will reopen Monday, July 6. Please enjoy the great weekend and be safe!

07/02/2026

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING CONSTRUCTION NEAR NEWTON COUNTY COURTHOUSE:

Starting July 6, 2026, Hunter Street and a portion of Usher Street will be closed due to the start of a lengthy project by the City of Covington. This portion of the project will last months. This is in addition to the already closed portion of Hendricks Street. The map, pictured on this post, shows the affected areas. It also includes arrows to help with where to go if you are going to the Courthouse/Judicial Center.

We have jury trials and numerous court dates scheduled for the weeks of July 6 and July 13. If you know someone with jury duty or a court dates, please pass this along.

What that means for the Judicial Center on Usher Street:
- Traveling East (from Emory Street): Usher Street will be closed to thru traffic. The Judicial Center and parking lot will remain OPEN and you are able to enter the parking lot from Usher Street (right before the closed area) which includes access to businesses including Uptown Cleaners and the Covington News. You can also get to the parking lot from either Brown Street or Stallings Street.
- Traveling West (from Pace Street): The best way to get to the Judicial Center parking lot will be to turn onto Stallings Street from Pace Street (coming from Hwy 278).
- Traveling North (from Church Street): Turn west onto Clark Street and take a right onto Brown Street, or continue on Church Street until it turns into Pace Street and turn left onto Stallings Street.

Please visit alcovycircuit.com for more information.

06/25/2026

Guilty Plea in July 2023 Murder in Housing Authority:

This morning, Dameko Tyrekies Boswell pleaded guilty to numerous charges including the murder of Larry Simmons. At the time, Boswell was 16 years old and Simmons was 15 years old.

On July 31, 2023, at approximately 1 am, Simmons and two other young men were walking in the area of Nixon Circle and Johnson Drive when the Defendant approaches them from behind and shoots at least 4 times at the 3 young men. Only Simmons was struck, having been shot 3 times in the back. Simmons died from the gunshot wounds. Much of the incident was caught on surveillance videos from the Housing Authority properties.

Covington Police Officers were canvasing the area following a different shooting that led to a death from the prior night. Officers heard the gunshots and quickly responded, finding Simmons.

The Defendant fled to a family member's apartment nearby and hid the firearm and his hoodie in a blanket in a family member's room. Law enforcement recovered the murder weapon the same night. Later testing by the GBI Crime Lab confirmed the presence of the Defendant's DNA on the firearm and confirmed that it was the murder weapon. The firearm had recently been reported stolen from a car break in.

In total, the Defendant entered a guilty plea to the following charges: Malice Murder, Felony Murder, 3 counts of Aggravated Assault, 3 counts of Possession of a Firearm During Commission of a Felony, Theft by Receiving Stolen Property, and Possession of a Handgun by a Person Under the Age of 18 Years. He was sentenced to Life in Prison with the possibility of parole, meaning he will not be eligible for parole until he serves 30 years. The case was set to be tried the week of July 13.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Madison Caito, Investigator Colin Cunningham, Victim Services Director Leslie Smith, Victim Advocate Madison Sanders, Trial Assistant Danielle Miller, and Legal Assistant Sheila Cornelius. The investigation was handled by the Covington Police Department with assistance from the GBI Crime Lab.

"This is yet another case of youth gun violence leading to terrible consequences. A 16-year-old is walking around at 1 am with a gun and ambushes 3 other young men, killing one of them. I am proud of the work of our prosecution team as well as the work of the Covington (Ga.) Police Department. Their hard work led to this case resolving with a guilty plea and admission of guilt, allowing Larry Simmons' family to have a level of closure without having to sit through a trial.

The DA's Office and law enforcement do an excellent job handling these cases, but parents, please ask yourself if you know what your child is doing at 1am, do you know what they are doing on social media, do you know who they are hanging out with? Prosecutors, law enforcement, community leaders, etc. can do a lot to help with this issue, but it begins and ends in the home."

Randy McGinley
District Attorney
Alcovy Judicial Circuit

This morning, Dameko Tyrekies Boswell pleaded guilty to numerous charges including the murder of Larry Simmons. At the time, Boswell was 16 years old and Simmons was 15 years old.On July 31, 2023, at approximately 1 am, Simmons and two other young men were walking in the area of Nixon Circle and Joh...

06/21/2026

“Fathering is not something perfect men do, but something that perfects the man.”

Happy Father’s Day!

06/18/2026

The District Attorney's Office, along with the courthouse and other county offices, will be closed tomorrow, in observance of Juneteenth. We will reopen Monday, June 22, at 8am.

06/08/2026

GA Supreme Court affirms conviction of Keyondre Preston for the 2019 murder of Shelvis Hillman (pictured):

Last week, the Supreme Court of Georgia issued a 23 page opinion affirming Preston’s convictions and life without parole sentence. In 2021, a Newton County jury found Preston guilty of all the charges he was facing including murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault, and firearm possession crimes.

On appeal, Preston argued that the trial court should not have allowed the State to present evidence of two 2018 armed robberies from DeKalb County. The Supreme Court found that those prior crimes were properly admitted against the Defendant, especially in light of his alternative defenses: that he did not commit the crimes/was not present at the crimes or that, if he was present, he acted in self defense. It cannot be ignored that Preston was put on bond from two separate violent armed robberies when he committed this murder.

The Defendant also claimed that the trial court was wrong in not instructing the jury on his self-defense claim. The Supreme Court held it was not necessary to decide whether the trial court should have given such instructions to the jury because it was highly probable that the failure to give such an instruction did not contribute to the verdict. In other words, the Court found that even if it assumed error, the error was harmless. The Justices said, “Given the strong evidence of Preston’s guilt, any evidence supporting a jury charge on justification and related concepts—to the extent that such evidence exists—was weak at best.”

The appeal was handled by Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Jillian Hall, who also tried the case. For the full opinion:

https://www.gasupreme.us/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/s26a0122.pdf